They waited until the white flag. It was as if someone said “last chance to smack it all silly!”
There were some close calls earlier in the race at Talladega. A touch, a spin, a slide up the track or down to the infield but somehow most checked or got by…
Until the last lap.
The racing had gotten hot. Gordon had made a run up. Earnhardt, Jr. had a run. Johnson was there at some point. Kahne started on pole and ran with it. Kenseth was there at the end but it looked like Stewart could make a run and go.
It was Tony Stewart, he had gone up the track a bit and was coming back towards the inside on the white flag lap. It was a green-white-checkered run following a touch-up with Jamie McMurray being tagged by Harvick.
Stewart, on a dive back to the inside, did not catch the speed that Michael Waltrip had worked up. The left rear of the #14 tagged the right front of the #55… (more…)